Entertainment Weekly and InStyle to cease printing
Dotdash Meredith will end production of the popular print magazines in a bid to switch the brands to digital-only outlets.
Shining a spotlight on the industry
Friday, 18 Feb 2022 15:58 GMT
InStyle and Entertainment Weekly are two of six magazines that will cease printing physical copies
Hailed as one of America’s biggest digital and print publishers, Dotdash Meredith is a part of media mogul Barry Diller’s holding company IAC.
Six publications will stop producing printed copies from April onwards meaning a loss of around 200 jobs or five percent of staff.
The magazines that will cease production are the titled Entertainment Weekly and InStyle, along with EatingWell, Health, Parents, and People en Español.
The news has been reported from The Wall Street Journal which saw an internal memo from chief executive officer Neil Vogel.
In the memo Vogel says: “It is not news to anyone that there has been a pronounced shift in readership and advertising from print to digital, and as a result, for a few important brands, print is no longer serving the brand’s core purpose.”
The magazines and brands were acquired when the Dotdash group purchased Meredeith Corporation to become Dotdash Meredith, a deal worth $2.7bn (£1.9bn).
The deal meant Dotdash gaining titles such as People, Entertainment Weekly, InStyle, and Better Homes and Gardens.
The move comes as another blow to the magazine and publishing industry which in the last two years has seen the end of titles such as Marie Claire, Q, and SciFiNow.
In his statement Mr Vogel says: “We have said from the beginning, buying Meredith was about buying brands, not magazines or websites.”
“Naysayers will interpret this as another nail in print’s coffin. But they couldn’t be more wrong.”
Reports claim Dotdash Meredith plans to invest $80m (£58m) this year across all its brands, with over 100 employment positions open in areas like editorial, design, and engineering.
Vogel hopes the positions will be filled by those leaving the six magazines that will no longer produce printed editions.
He also expresses a desire to invest in the 19 remaining print magazines at the company, enhancing them with the likes of better paper quality, and more trimmed print sizes.
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